Alison Shanks

New Zealand Olympic Ambassador Images Getty Alison Shanks

Olympian number: Discipline: Specialist events: 3000m individual pursuit (track), 1085 Cycling – Track individual time trial (road)

Alison (Ali) Shanks was born in 1982 in Dunedin. Ali started her athletic career playing basketball and netball. She represented Otago in these sports for five years, Quick facts while studying marketing and human nutrition at Otago University. In 2005 she graduated from university and turned to cycling. Favourite food: Roast New Zealand lamb with mint and new potatoes After only a short time cycling, she qualified for the 2006 Favourite movie: Love Actually Melbourne Commonwealth Games, where she placed Favourite music: Zac Brown Band fourth in the individual pursuit. That same year she Childhood hero: Michael Jordan placed ninth at the World Championships, an impressive Current favourite athlete: Roger Federer result considering she had only started the sport the Most rewarding moment in sport: Standing on top previous year. Ali quickly became one of New Zealand’s of the podium at the 2012 World Championships with cycling stars, winning New Zealand and Oceania my parents and family in the stands and singing the individual pursuit championships multiple times. New Zealand national anthem. Talents other than sport: I’m pretty good at cooking In 2007, she improved, placing eighth at the a mean beef fillet steak. World Championships. The next year, she lowered Biggest injury: Broke my shoulder at the her personal best individual pursuit time by 5 Beijing World Cup in 2007. seconds. This was a significant achievement – Biggest sacrifice:I don’t see any real sacrifices in my life – they are all choices I have willingly made. every second counts on a cycling track! At the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Ali narrowly missed Job outside sport: Sport has been my fulltime job since graduating from Otago University in 2005. Alongside out on a medal, placing fourth. training and competing, I spend my time involved with my family of sponsors, doing events and promotions as well as various charity events throughout the year.

Copyright © 2014. The New Zealand Olympic Committee. All rights reserved. | 1 Unfortunately, after the Beijing Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee announced that individual pursuit would not feature in the 2012 London Career Olympic Games. Ali was disappointed, as she had to give up her dream of winning an Olympic medal in highlights this event.

However, Ali didn’t let the disappointment bring her 2012 Melbourne World Championships: down. She continued to train hard at individual pursuit. Individual pursuit (First) In 2009, Ali had a fantastic season, lowering her personal 2012 London Olympic Games: best by even more and becoming the individual pursuit Team pursuit (Fifth) world champion. She followed this up with a Gold Medal 2011 Holland World Championships: Individual at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Ali had pursuit (Second), Team pursuit (Third) become New Zealand’s golden girl of the velodrome. 2011 New Zealand National Track Champs: Individual pursuit (First) Despite individual pursuit no longer being an Olympic 2011 Columbia World Cup: Individual event, Ali’s Olympic journey wasn’t over yet. Team pursuit (First), Team pursuit (First) pursuit was on the event list for the 2012 London World Cup Series: Olympic Games, so Ali set her sights on competing as 2011 Team pursuit (Champions) part of a team. She achieved her goal, qualifying for the team alongside Lauren Ellis and Jaime Nielsen. The trio 2011 Great Britain World Cup: Team Pursuit (Second) performed well in London, smashing their New Zealand record by 1.6 seconds and placing fifth overall. That 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games (Gold) same year, Ali won her second world championships 2009 Track cycling individual pursuit in the individual pursuit. world champion 2008 Beijing Olympic Games: Upon returning from the London Olympic Games, Ali Individual Pursuit (Fourth) took a break from her bike. She then withdrew from the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games: 2013 National Championships in Invercargill due to a Individual pursuit (Fourth) hip injury, saying:

“2012 was such a huge year – a world title in Melbourne and the Olympics in the team pursuit, so right now the timing is good to take Links a short break, get this injury fixed properly and then get back on the bike physically fresh and ready for next season where I will be able Alison Shanks’ Olympic Museum profile: http://imuseum.olympic.org.nz/museum/athlete/profile/27290 to give 100 per cent again.” (Alison Shanks, 29 January 2013, http://www.cyclingsouth.org.nz/ Alison Shanks’ websites: index.php?pageLoad=220&itemId=858) http://alisonshanks.co.nz www.facebook.com/ali.shanks In 2011, the New Zealand Olympic Committee named Ali a New Zealand Olympic Ambassador. She is currently living in Dunedin, taking time out to enjoy home cooking Follow the NZ Olympic Team here: and catching up with friends. Following surgery on her hip, Ali announced her retirement from cycling in January 2014. Ali plans to put her marketing and nutrition NZ Olympic Team @nzolympics degrees to use and hopes to stay involved in the sport. nzolympics www.olympic.org.nz

Men’s cycling has been part of the Olympic Games since the Important points first modern Games in 1896. The events have changed over the The different cycling events test different years, but there has always been combinations of ability: strength, speed, some cycling. Women’s road endurance and tactical thinking. racing was introduced in 1984 Aerodynamics: Cyclists try to reduce the and women’s track cycling in amount of drag they feel from the air, as this helps them move faster. They make 1988. The London 2012 Olympic themselves more aerodynamic by wearing Games were the first time men specially designed light-weight racing suits and helmets, maintaining very little body fat, and women contested the same and often shaving their legs. Professional events in all cycling disciplines. bicycles are often built of extremely light materials.

Position: When you ride closely behind another cyclist, you can ride in their slipstream and reduce the amount of pressure you feel from the air. This is called drafting. It means you don’t have to pedal as hard, so you can save energy. In team events, team members often take turns at the front, giving the other members a chance to rest. In individual events, a common tactic is to try to force the other rider to ride ahead of you, so you can save energy for the final sprint.

• BMX (see separate summary). Men

• Mountain biking made its Olympic debut in 1996. • BMX racing The track runs over rough and hilly countryside. • Mountain bike cross country All riders start together and the first to complete a • Road: Individual time trial (about 44km) set number of laps of the track is the winner. • Road: Road race (about 250km) • Track: Sprint • Road cycling takes place outside, often on public • Track: Keirin roads. In the road racing event, all the riders start at • Track: Omnium the same time. The first rider to cross the line wins. • Track: Team Sprint The time trial event is about having the fastest time • Track: Team Pursuit over a course.Riders start 90 seconds apart. In team Women events, each team has no more than five riders. • BMX racing • Track cycling is contested on a velodrome. • Mountain bike cross country Velodrome tracks are a similar shape to running • Road: Individual time trial (about 29km) tracks, but the sides of velodrome tracks are sloped • Road: Road race (about 140km) up from the centre. The slope is steep on the corners • Track: Sprint and less steep on the straights. Velodrome tracks are • Track: Keirin usually made of wood. There are several different • Track: Omnium types of team and individual track races. The aim of • Track: Team Sprint most of the races is to cross the finish line first or with • Track: Team Pursuit the fastest time. The omnium event is the exception, as it includes several different races, with points being awarded for each race. The rider with the fewest points after all the races wins.